


i'm holding onto pieces of us {that i just can’t let go}

by DivergentTributeOfHogwarts



Category: The Queen's Gambit (TV)
Genre: Bisexual Townes, F/M, First Time, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, and ofc beth loves him, but have they ever been just friends?, he loves her so much it hurts, hello? the "are we still in love?" scene?, i can't get out of my head that they're meant to be, i don't think so, their chemistry was unrivaled, this starts out right after the series ends, townes is literally the sweetest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:27:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29411907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DivergentTributeOfHogwarts/pseuds/DivergentTributeOfHogwarts
Summary: Another chance meeting. Another photoshoot. But this time there's no Roger to interrupt them.
Relationships: Beth Harmon/D. L. Townes
Comments: 7
Kudos: 22





	i'm holding onto pieces of us {that i just can’t let go}

**Author's Note:**

> Aight, guess I'm one of the (very) few people who firmly believe Townes is bisexual and completely head over heels for Beth.  
> Well, I really have to thank this mini-series for making me want to write again (and also Fate - The Winx Saga, but that's another story).  
> I really hope you're gonna like it, and please forgive me if you notice some mistakes. English isn't my native language.  
> Enjoy! <3

When he spotted her in front of a shop window, he couldn’t believe his eyes. She looked exactly just like a few hours before: radiant, victorious, proud. And he couldn’t help but stare at her longingly, as always, because despite everything he told her the night before she was still the exception for him, no matter what.

He approached her with small steps, basking in her figure standing in the snowy landscape of Moscow.

“I thought you had a flight to catch”, he finally said when the distance between them was minimal.

She smiled, but didn’t tore her gaze from the shop window. “What time is it?”, she asked instead.

Townes glanced rapidly at his clock. “It’s 8:30pm”, he answered, looking back at her.

And, finally, her eyes met his. “Guess I lost it, then”.

He couldn’t help but let a soft laugh escape his lips at her words. “You’re incredible”, he said, shaking his head. “Can’t believe that agent let you wander all alone around the streets of Moscow”.

“I didn’t really give him a chance to stop me”, she answered with her usual cockiness.

“Of course you didn’t”, he whispered, always amazed by her attitude.

They kept staring at each other in silence, smiling, but he instantly noticed that she started shivering a bit.

“I’m going back to Kentucky tomorrow, you can fly with me”, he offered.

“I should call the airport to ask if they still have a place for tomorrow”, she replied. “Besides, I don’t have a hotel room any more.”

“Luckily for you, I do.”

She bit her lower lip, and Townes’ heart skipped a beat at that sight. Then, she just shrugged. “Fine. You’re just repaying me for letting you stay yesterday night, I suppose.”

“I’d rather say I’d enjoy to spend some other time in your company”, he blurted out, offering her his arm. Beth happily accepted it and they began to walk back to the hotel, chatting randomly about everything that crossed their minds.

The hall was still full of journalists when they arrived, but as they tried to assault her with their questions, Townes’ voice stopped them. “Sorry, gentlemen, I got the exclusive and I don’t like sharing.”

As the flashes of the photographs followed them all the way through his room, Beth couldn’t stop smiling and throwing amused glances at him.

When he finally closed the door behind them, her laugh filled the whole place. “You know they’re probably thinking we’re going to fuck, right?”

Townes shrugged. “Let them. Gossips can only increase your already vast fame, after all.”

Beth’s eyes scanned the room, immediately finding the chess board, and they lit up. Townes couldn’t help but smile. “Chess is really the only thing you can think about.”

Her gaze flashed back to him, slightly amused. “I’m Grandmaster now, don’t forget it.”

“I could never”, he answered, and his honesty must have had some sort of impact on her, because her breath faltered a little and the way she stared at him changed imperceptibly. But he noticed that, of course: he noticed everything about her.

“My things are probably headed back to America right now, so I don’t have anything with me”, she stated. “And since you don’t like sharing…”

“You’re the exception”, he simply told her with a smile, and he knew Beth understood the real meaning behind those words.

After that, they began playing chess, barely exchanging a word but stealing glances from each other for the entire duration of the game.

When she beat him for the umpteenth time, he lifted his hands. “I resign. It’s been an honour being destroyed by you.”

She improvised an arrogant pose which made him laugh, then said, “So, about that exclusive interview?”

Townes placed the tips of his index fingers against his lips. “I think I already have in mind the whole article.”

She rolled her eyes. “You can write a book about all the things you know about me.”

“Maybe I will.”

She smiled at his answer, then caught sight of his camera. “I’m such in a good mood for a photoshoot right now, and it doesn’t happen very often.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Are you subtly inviting me to take some photos of you?”

“Maybe not so subtly”, Beth said, earning a laugh from him.

“Alright, then. I can’t say no to you, after all.” He took the camera and kneeled in front of her. “You know what to do, lady”, he joked.

Beth didn’t waste time: she posed like a professional model, sometimes involving the chess pieces, some other times just staring into the camera lens in a way that made Townes swallow hard. She looked like she was really having fun, and he was definitely enjoying the time he was spending with her. Finally, it was just the two of them without the pressure of an upcoming game or anything else. It was just him and her, Townes and Beth, and nothing else mattered.

Suddenly, a strand of her always perfect hair covered one of her eyes, and Townes’ hand moved without him controlling it. He tucked her lock of hair back to where it was, but his fingers lingered to her face way more than they should’ve had. He could feel Beth’s erratic breath on his wrist, and his lips parted. Then he noticed the quick glance she gave at the door.

“What are you looking at?”, he asked, voice hoarser than usual.

“Just checking that Roger’s not around”, she answered with the same tone.

He couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Haven’t seen him in years.”

“I’m sorry”, she said, and she sounded like she meant it.

“Don’t be. I’m not. I wasn’t feeling it any more.”

“And what do you feel now?”

The camera had been placed on the floor, abandoned, but none of them spared a thought for it. Townes found himself leaning over her, his face a few inches away from Beth’s, their breaths mixed. He was still touching her lightly on the cheek, but his gaze was firm on her lips, slightly parted.

“You do this with all your friends?”, she murmured.

He chuckled. “Only with you.” Then their foreheads touched, their noses brushed and their mouths crashed together, and Townes didn’t expect it to be so wholesome, but of course it was, because this was Beth Harmon and she was everything this world – his world – needed.

Their lips moved against each other, with a tenderness that surprised him. He wasn’t used to that sort of kiss, but he was quickly discovering that he wouldn’t exchange it for anything else.

When they parted, it was like the air completely left his lungs, like kissing Beth was the only thing that could keep him alive.

“You told me you wanted us to be friends, but friends don’t kiss each other”, she said, her breath slightly laboured, eyes fixed on his.

“I lied”, he simply answered. To her, to himself. He was a liar, because he’d wanted to kiss her for such a long time, but she was a girl, and he wasn’t used to feel these things for a girl. Again, she was different. She wasn’t like anyone else he’d ever met. Her presence was intoxicating.

She nodded. “Good”. Then she leaned forward and kissed him again, touching his jaw and placing her hand in his hair.

Townes lost himself in that kiss. Beth deepened it, pushing her tongue through his lips, and he let her, and his whole body felt ecstatic by her proximity. His mind stopped working, unable to process that this was really happening, that it wasn’t just a dream or a product of his fervent imagination. Beth Harmon was actually there, in his arms, kissing him like the rest of the world didn’t exist, and he couldn’t help but kiss her back with as much fierce passion.

Her coat was already on the floor and her fingers were unbuttoning his shirt while he pulled up her dress to her waist. He stopped only to get rid of the now fully opened shirt, and in the meantime she did the same with her gown. Despite the chilly temperature, Townes felt his body on fire just by staring at her perfect form. His trousers followed the rest of their clothes, leaving them just in their undergarments.

The tips of Beth’s fingers grazed his chest and he felt his heart thundering in his ears. He felt overwhelmed by a desire he never experienced, and when she finally caressed his lips he took her hand and kissed it with pure and utter devotion.

When he stared back at her, she looked in awe, a small smile curving her lips and her eyes shining. “Have you ever been with a woman?”, she asked, and there was no malice in her tone.

He shook his head. “Not like this”, he confessed.

She nodded, more to herself than to him, than cleared her throat and wondered, almost shyly, “Do you have a condom?”

His arm stretched to the night table, opening the only drawer and taking what they needed. He couldn’t tore his gaze from her, scared at the thought she might disappear at any moment.

Then she stood up from where she was sitting and he was left staring at her from the floor, like she was some sort of goddess – and she was, to him. Her arms reached a point behind her back and unclasped her bra, that fell on the floor, revealing her breasts to him. Townes felt his mouth dry while he studied her pink nipples, which looked so soft and at the same time so arousing.

Her panties dropped to her ankles and he had to close his eyes for a moment and catch a breath, because it was too much: too much beauty, too much love. His feelings threatened to suffocate him with their ardour, and only when he managed to regain some control over them, he opened his eyes, finding that Beth was now on his bed, waiting for him to join her.

Slowly, carefully, he stood up, lowering his boxers in the process. He let her gaze scan him, and what he saw in her eyes made his heart pump in a way that made him think it could explode.

He was about to open the condom when her hand stretched out. “Let me”, she whispered, and he handed it to her without even thinking about it, approaching her to ease the job.

She pulled herself on her knees, sliding the condom for all his length, and he had to suppress a moan from escaping his lips so soon. The contact between their skins made him realize that he really needed to get on that bed before his legs betrayed him.

When he finally joined her, he cupped her face in his hands, studying her expression, in search for something that helped him understand if she really wanted it, because there was no turning back from what was about to happen.

As if she’d read his mind, her hands covered his and she whispered, “Please”. That was all he needed.

Townes leaned on his back, letting her straddle him, and grabbed her waist with tenderness, lowering her over him. The sensation of her sweet core closing around him made his grip harder, but she didn’t mind: on the contrary, she seemed to like it.

Their eyes met, and Beth waited for a moment before beginning to slide up and down, making him groan in the process. The rhythm she settled for at the start was tantalizingly slow, so she could feel every inch of him filling her and he could experience her warm walls closing around him.

The only sounds in the room were their soft moans and whispers of each other’s names. When Townes finally came, hard and fast and mesmerized, he lifted Beth from over him and exchanged places with her, kissing his way down her body. His lips worshipped her breasts and his tongue licked her nipples while his fingers caressed her inner core, and despite it being his first time with a woman he found it so easy to touch her in all the right places, but maybe that was because it was Beth, and he felt like he had known Beth his entire life and more.

He kept going lower, peppering her belly with carefully placed kisses and making her moan and giggle at the same time.

When he reached the space between her legs, he looked up to her face and saw that she was biting her lip again. “Townes”, she pleaded with a voice he never heard her use before, so he just sunk his head between her lower lips and gave her the pleasure she craved.

The feeling of her orgasm on the tip of his tongue left him breathless. She was literally shaking under his touch and the only thing he could think about was the fact that Beth Harmon was naked in a bed under him and they just made love.

He extricated himself from her legs and collapsed beside her, covering both of them with the sheet. They kept looking at each other in silence, trying to catch their breaths after what just happened and just enjoying each other’s heat.

After a few minutes, Townes’ arm hovered over Beth, adjusting her near him, and she placed her head on his chest. He hugged her and let her smell fill his lungs.

“I always imagined how it would be”, she whispered, interrupting the silence. “When I was with Harry, or Benny, or anyone else, I just kept thinking about how things would be if I were with you.”

Townes’ fingers grazed her spine. “Did I satisfy you?”, he smirked, but a small pang of fear expanded through him at the thought that he might have let her down.

As if sensing his discomfort, Beth’s head turned up to look at him. “It was better than I could’ve ever imagined.”

The smile he gave her after that confession was so full of love and adoration that her cheeks burned and she had to lower her head once again, resting her forehead against his chest one more time.

“You really are something, Elizabeth Harmon”, he murmured, kissing the top of her head, and she smiled against his skin.

They fell asleep like this, tangled in each other’s limbs, with a new consciousness in their hearts and a hopeful future ahead of them.


End file.
